15 November 2013

Got to Approve of the Sentiment, Anyway

Illinois bishop to perform ‘exorcism’ on day same-sex marriage becomes law

CHICAGO • Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Springfield said he will offer prayers for “exorcism
in reparation for the sin of same-sex marriage” at the same time
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign the same-sex marriage bill
next week.

Paprocki said he will offer the prayers intended to
cast out evil at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the
state’s capital Wednesday.

“It is scandalous that so many Catholic
politicians are responsible for enabling the passage of this
legislation and even twisting the words of the pope to rationalize their
actions despite the clear teaching of the church,” Paprocki said in a
statement.

Earlier
this month, House Speaker Michael Madigan cited the pope’s renowned
“Who am I to judge?” phrase to explain the politician’s support for
same-sex marriage on the House floor. Pope Francis’ remark — “If a
person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” —
referred to gay men who seek to become priests, not to gay marriage.

In
fact, during Argentina’s debate over same-sex marriage in 2010, Pope
Francis, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, called it a “‘move’ of the
father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

“Pope Francis is saying that same-sex ‘marriage’ comes from the devil and should be condemned as such,” Paprocki said.

An
exorcism, which often refers to a rite performed on an individual, is
applicable in the case of same-sex marriage because the devil can appear
“in various forms of opposition to and persecution of the church,” the
diocese of Springfield said in statement.

“All politicians now
have the moral obligation to work for the repeal of this sinful and
objectionable legislation,” Paprocki said. “We must pray for deliverance
from this evil which has penetrated our state and our church.”

4 comments:

I wish that, seeing the obvious, appalling damage done by his unguarded words, the Holy Father would compose a clear, unequivocal rebuke -- one that instructs and corrects -- to those who have turned those words to evil purposes and to the faithful who can feel the wolves breathing down their necks. Not in the form of a statement tonelessly read out by some functionary, but stated emphatically and repeatedly by the Holy Father himself. Over and over again. For however long it might take to get the message thoroughly across.

I know that encouraging prayer and intercession to Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Guadalupe on this site is basically preaching to the choir, but then again, you never know who is reading, right?

At this point, what can traditional Catholics do besides pray? Should we be marching in the streets? I'm really not sure how we combat this. I pray the Rosary. I don't know for sure what God wants of us in this situation besides prayer. I am a retiree, as I guess are so many traditional Catholics. I feel kind of helpless as I watch all of this unfold.

Isn't there a real, amazing ontological action of a Bishop- the fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ- pronouncing the exorcism prayers? Rest assured that Satan does not view them as a sentiment but as vile torture to his foul self, having the victory of Christ imposed upon him by a successor to the Apostles.

Would that more bishops and priests prayed the exorcism prayers more often.

A Day That Will Live in Glory

Pray for the Four Cardinals: Burke, Caffarra, Meiser and Brandmuller

“You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day."